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Homepage | Back to Magi-Tech The beings of Creation use three primary types of explosive materials. Gunpowder, Firebust, and Blasting Powder. =Gunpowder 101= Creating Gunpowder is a fairly simple activity for even a primitive chemist; the hard part is getting it right without blowing yourself up. The explosive power of gunpowder and all explosives is caused by the rapid conversion of a solid fuel source into a rapidly expanding cloud of high temperature gas. The act of combustions creates a great deal of heat and waste matter (Ashes and gases). The more energy (heat) you add to a substance the faster its atoms vibrate and the further apart its molecules are pushed from each other. This causes hot gas to expand in area and push against the boundaries of its container. If the container is too small you get an explosion. The rate at which gunpowder burns is dependant on how quickly oxygen can reach the fuel, determined by the amount of sulfur in the mix and the space between bits of gunpowder. The larger the grains of powder the greater the explosive force of the powder. Cannons and similar military weapons use a larger grain powder than do civilian rifles. Attempting to use a large grain cannon powder in a small arm (Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun, etc) will result in the weapon exploding in your face as the greater speed of the reaction creates a larger short term degree of force than the barrel of the rifle can stand. Making gunpowder requires the three materials with make it up be ground together until the combine into grains of powder. It requires all three parts to be mixed thru out the mixture at a constant ratio and at a molecular level. The normal method of doing this is the use of a mortal and pestle or a grindstone. This process uses friction to mix the components and as a by product produces heat. Heat = Fire, Fire + Gunpowder = You missing fingers at best, leveling your town at worst. Needless to say making and using Gunpowder is extremely dangerous, especially in a primitive environment in which in fire is used to provide light. Oh yes. Did I mention that when you grind powder, some of it forms a cloud around you which can also explode? Besides its dangerous nature, gunpowder has a second draw back. If it gets damp it will not ignite and becomes worthless unless reground. The problem is that the more surface area a substance has the faster it draws condensation from the air. (Dew) The large grains of powder have a higher surface area than do finely ground powder and are more likely to become damp from air. Modern real world firearms do not use gunpowder. They use one of a variety of synthetic compounds, which are safer, stronger and more reliable. Real gunpowder is what you get in fireworks and is sold for hunting as Black powder. Gunpowder was made and used in Asia for centuries for rockets, fireworks, explosive, firesticks and eventually even primative cannons and hand-cannons before it was discovered by the West and refined into the premier weapon of death. =Gunpowder in Creation= The secret of creating gunpowder is fairly well known to savants thru out Creation. How ever few groups use it due to the difficulties and dangers inherent to its creation and usage as well as its unreliability. Somewhat less wide spread is the concept of and ability to make and use firearms. Ironically one of the only powers to make extensive usage of gunpowder is the forces of the Deathlords for whom the danger of death by mishap is not an issue. The largest difficulty in producing large quantities of gunpowder is access to saltpeter, which is a fairly rare salt formed mostly by decay of animal waste sinking into the soil. Saltpeter is difficult and time consuming to produce artificially as well. =Firedust= Firedust is a naturally occurring thermal active substance that defies the real world laws of physics (specifically the laws of thermal dynamics) as it will produce a large amount of heat and flame very quickly but does not generate the expansive gases required to produce an explosion. Firedust will produce a firestorm if ignited in large enough quantity, which produces an effect similar to a large explosion. Firewands and flame pieces are small arms that are basically a metal tube with a touch whole at the end. A quantity of Firedust is placed into the weapon and ignited by touching a heat source to the touch hole. This results in a large jet of flame shooting from the barrel of the weapon in a similar fashion to a gunpowder fire stick. Despite the force with which the flame is expelled from the weapon, sticking a bullet in front of the jet will not result in a gun; it simply melts the bullet and/or the weapon. (And your hand) Firedust is a good deal safer than gunpowder but is by no means a safe and risk free product. It will ignite with little provoketation into a massive firestorm which is almost as destructive as an explosion. =Blasting Powder= Blasting powder is the premier explosive material of Creation for usage in firearms, cannons and explosives. It is a synthetic explosive created using the thamaturgic school of alchemy similar to modern synthetics used for bullets and explosives. Blasting power is actually a combination of two base powders which ignite in an explosive reaction when mixed together. One powder is blue and the other a light pink in color. To create a bullet or cannon propellent, each powder is sealed inside of a silk bag (Cotton will not work as it leaks powder resulting in accidental detenations.) both of which are then sealed into a large cotton pouch known as a charge of powder or simply a charge. The charge is placed into the stock of the firearm and then a bullet is placed in front of it. The breach is then sealed and a spring loaded sharpened pin is placed over a small hole above or behind the charge. To fire the weapon, the spring is released and the pin pierces both silk bags and mixes the powders which then explode forcing the bullet out of the weapon. =Ballistics Technology= The amount of powder required for a given weapon is decided on an ad-hoc basis by the person preparing the charges and is often a matter of guess work and is more an art than a science in most of Creation. Charges purchased from a professional gunsmith are much more likely to be reliable and to not cause a catostrophic failure due to excessive amounts of powder. The concept of the bullet cartrages in which both charge and bullet are incased into metal shell, which is then loaded into the weapon is present in Creation but requires a high level of skilll and metal working knowledge that is hard to come by. (A cartrage is a modern bullet.) Cygnar has the most advanced ballistic (Firearm and Cannon technology) of all powers currently active in the main stream of Creation and uses cartrages in most of its weapons including its cannons. Cygnar has even gone so far as to develop weapons capable of repeatedly firing without reload. The Category:UE Category:UE Setting